Dec. 28, 2009

AFM-studies on Solid Supported Lipid-bilayers with Bound Proteins

Proteins are involved in all processes which are necessary for living, e.g. they are responsible for growth and cleavage of cells, which makes them an interesting topic for science and medical application. Small GTPases, like Ras, are GTP-binding proteins involved in cellular processes, e.g. vesicle transport, cell cycles, nuclear import and signal transduction. GTPases act as molecular switches, which cycle between a GDP-bound inactive and a GTP-bound active state regulated through different factors. In oncogenic mutants of Ras this regulation is disturbed. more